An outer cage for a pallet container enabled by a half through riveting method

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a pallet container cage 100 wherein the horizontal elements 103 and vertical elements 102 of the cage 100 are connected by rivets 101 at uppermost section 109 and lowermost section 110 which pass through the first element and partially through the second element in a way that it grips the second element completely. The first element and the second element are engaged together with the rivet 101. The rivet 101 is inserted from the first element and is passed through the two sections of the first element and partially in the second element which locks with only one section of the second element, more particularly with inner side of the second element. Such system of riveting may enable the exposed surface of the second element to remain smooth and free from any rivet protrusions thereby eliminating the damages caused by the protrusion formed in existing art.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a field of outer cages enabled for the pallet containers, and more particularly, relates to outer cage for a pallet container enabled by a half through riveting method.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to implementations of the claimed technology.

Pallet containers are used for transportation of liquid dangerous goods. Pallet containers consist of outer cage made out of hollow steel tubes either fastened together or welded at their joining and intersections or are joined by rivets throughout the intersection wherein such outer cage is fixed on a pallet and holding a replaceable thin-walled rigid plastics bottle/inner container having one filling opening on top and one emptying/discharge valve at bottom.

The problem current pallet containers are facing is the wear and tear of the outer cage in both versions comprising cage made by welding and fastening. The vibrational stress occurring in the container due to the movement of the fluid inside the container may cause the welded joint to break or may loosen the fasteners attached between the joining members of cage. Such improper and unsafe cage structures may lead to accidental conditions.

Further improvements have been made in Indian Application number 3528/MUM/2010 wherein the vertical and horizontal tubes are fastened together with at least one fastening arrangement in addition to the closable fastening means wherein such additional fastening arrangement is enabled to overcome the failure of the fastening means. There is a scope of an additional advancement over such arrangement as described in 3528/MUM/2010 wherein there can be significant alterations in the rivet system which may enable to save the rivet material, the machining cost and time and then finally provide a better cage for a pallet container.

Further, aesthetics is a feature which is majorly neglected in the pallet containers and the cage associated with such pallet containers. All the fastening elements are either protruded from the cage or are visible such that they produce an obsolete design.

Therefore, there is a long-standing need for developing a cage for a pallet container which has a joining process enabled to provide both efficient joining capability and better aesthetics than the existing art.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to an outer cage for a pallet container enabled by a half through riveting method and the concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In one embodiment, a pallet container cage enabled to protect and cover a container on a pallet is disclosed. The pallet container cage comprises an arrangement of a plurality of elements joined at a plurality of intersections via a plurality of rivet joints and a plurality of welded joints. In one aspect, the plurality of rivet joints joins the elements such that the rivet joint joins a first element, of the plurality of elements, and a second element, of the plurality of elements, at an intersection of the plurality of intersections. In one aspect, the element through which the rivet is first inserted is the first element, wherein the rivet runs in entirety through the first element. In another aspect, the element through which the rivet is partially inserted after the insertion through the first element is the second element which forms a rivet joint with an engagement of three sections of the first and the second element, and wherein the said three sections comprises two sections of the first element and one section of the second element.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the invention is to protect and cover a container in the pallet container by a pallet container cage.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide the pallet container cage wherein the vertical elements and the horizontal elements are joined at the plurality of intersections partially by a rivet joint and partially by welded joints or fasteners.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide the pallet container wherein a plurality of weaker joints or the weaker sections within the cage are joined by rivet joints and wherein normal joints other than the weaker joints or sections are joined either by the welded joints or by the fasteners.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide the pallet container cage having rivet types of either a pull type rivet, blind rivet, or a pop rivet.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide the pallet container cage having full insertion of the rivet in the first element, and a partial insertion of the rivet in the second element, wherein the first element and second element can be either of the vertical elements or horizontal elements.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a pallet container cage wherein the rivet is only visible from one side from where the said rivet is inserted as it captures only three sections of the elements comprising two sections of first element and one section of the second element thereby hiding the second end of the rivet in the second element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying Figures. In the Figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the Figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer like features and components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a pallet container cage 100 with riveted joints 101 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a close view 200 of the intersection having the rivet joint 101 for joining the horizontal element 103 and the vertical element 102 in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 of formation of pallet container cage 100 with riveted joint 101 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to a field of pallet containers and their sub-structures, and more particularly, relates to an outer cage for a pallet container formed by riveting method.

Pallet containers form a major part in material handling and enable the storage of and transportation of consumer and industrial goods. They are enabled to carry drums, boxes, crates and further can be in the form of bulk containers enabled to carry chemicals food ingredients, solvents, pharmaceuticals and the like.

In order to protect the pallet containers or the bulk containers, a suitable cage is developed with tubes or rods in the form of mesh which are either joined by welding process or riveting process in the existing art. Riveting is method used in joining the pallet cage, wherein the rivets are passed through out the intersection of the horizontal and vertical tubes. Such rivets cause a protrusion of the rivet head which may cause a wear on other pallets or other objects. Therefore, such protrusion of rivets is to be eliminated by maintaining the same joining process.

The present invention discloses a pallet container cage wherein the horizontal and vertical elements of the cage are connected by rivets which pass through the elements present at the inner side and partially through the outer elements in a way that the rivets grip the outer elements completely. The rivets are preferably joined at the joints where there are higher stresses wherein such joints are especially present at the uppermost section 109 and the lowermost section 110 (as shown in the FIG. 1) of the cage. Although the sections are shown at only one side in the FIG. 1, it is to be understood that other three sides also form the part of uppermost section 109 and lowermost section 110. Such joints may be referred as weaker sections as they are subjected to higher amounts of load and stress resulting them to be classified as joint which are more vulnerable to breakage and therefore making them weaker.

For the purpose of the current disclosure “a cage” and “a pallet container cage” may be referred for same or single structure and have the meaning of the cage employed to protect the pallet container.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a pallet container cage 100 with riveted joints and welded joints is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The pallet container cage 100 comprises a plurality of tubes arranged in vertical and horizontal fashion which are joined by rivets 101 (also to be referred by rivet joint 101) at a plurality of weaker joints and are further joined by welded joints 108 at a plurality of normal joints. The weaker joints may be classified as joints where there are higher amounts of stresses wherein such joints are especially present at the uppermost 109 section and the lowermost 110 sections of the cage 100. The normal joints may be classified as joints where there are lesser amounts of stresses wherein such joints are especially present at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal elements and are not present at the extreme sections i.e. the uppermost section 109 and lowermost section 110 of the cage 100. The tubes arranged in vertical arrangements may be referred as vertical elements 102 and the tubes arranged in horizontal arrangements may be referred as horizontal elements 103. The pallet cage 100 may further comprise two or three reinforcement tubes 104 which are connected between any two opposite sides of the upper most horizontal element 103. The joining point of the horizontal element 103 may be covered by a clamp 105. The lower most horizontal element 103 has a cut section 106 for accommodation of the inlet/outlet tap of the pallet container. A nameplate 107 may be incorporated to display any text or other media at the central area at any one side of the cage 100. Further, element through which the rivet is first passed is referred as a first element and the element through which the rivet is partially passed after the first element is to be referred as second element. Further, elements closer to the pallet container surface are the inner elements and the elements fixed on the inner elements from outer side are the outer elements.

In an example, if the horizontal elements 103 are closer to the pallet container, then the horizontal elements 103 will be referred as inner elements and the vertical elements 102 fixed on the inner elements will be referred as outer elements. In an embodiment, the tubes may be hollow tubes and may have any one of the cross-sectional shape comprising circular, rectangular or in the form of square.

In an embodiment, the rivets 101 used in the current disclosure may be selected from one of a pull type rivet, blind rivet or a pop rivet. Such rivets or riveting system need only one side for insertion and installation. Therefore, the rivets while installation are passed from the first element which is from the inner side of the cage through the inner elements and further passed partially through the second element which is the outer element in such a way that the second element is firmly and permanently joined with the inner element via the rivets 101. At a joining point of horizontal element (uppermost section 109 and lowermost 110) 103 and any vertical element 102, a single rivet 101 is passed through both sections of the first hollow element and further passed through only one section of the second element, thereby eliminating the need to engage the rivet end with the second section of the outer element. Such system of riveting may enable the exposed surface of the outer element to remain smooth and free from any rivet protrusions thereby eliminating the damages caused by the protrusion of rivets used in the existing art which have a drawback of installation requirements from both the sides. The pallet container cage may be developed with for pallet having standard dimensions comprising 1100 mm×800 mm, 1100 mm×900 mm, 1100 mm×1100 mm, 1100 mm×1400 mm or 1000 mm×1200 mm conforming to ISO and EURO standards.

The remaining normal joints which are present at the intersection of vertical elements 102 and the horizontal elements 103 and are at the mid-sections and not being a joint present at the uppermost section 109 or the lowermost section 110 of the cage 100 are joined by welded joints 108. The type of joint may be of an appropriate joint and may be performed by welding methods comprising gas metal arc welding, tungsten inert gas welding, arc welding and Oxy Acetylene Welding.

Although the present pallet container cage 100 is formed when rivets are passed from the inner side of the cage 100 through the inner elements and further passed partially through the outer elements in such a way that the outer element is firmly and permanently joined with the inner element, it must be noted that the rivets may also be passed from the outer side of the cage through the outer elements and further passed partially through the inner element. In such embodiment, the protrusions of the rivets are present from the outer side and the inner side of the cage is clean and smooth. Therefore, the pallet container and the cage 100 manufacturers may implement both methods of rivet insertion as per the manufacturer's requirements and needs.

In another embodiment, the primary technical advancement of the current pallet container cage 100 is to form a joint at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal elements (102 and 103) by a rivet joint 101 which is passed only through three sections instead of passing throughout the intersection and engaging with the fourth surface of the intersection which is the extreme section of the second element. Such rivet joint 101 at the intersection with three sections is further illustrated and described in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that such rivet joint 101 is implemented at the weaker sections as described above where the joints are subjected to higher stresses as compared to other normal joining points.

Referring FIG. 2, a close view 200 of the joints having the rivet joint for joining the horizontal element 103 and the vertical element 102 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

The current FIG. 2 further illustrates the rivet joints 101 at the extreme two sections (top and bottom) and in a special case also discloses a rivet joint 101 at the normal intersections. However, the normal sections are preferably joined by welded joints 108.

The vertical element 102 and the horizontal element 103 are engaged together with the rivet. In current embodiment, the vertical element 102 is the first element and the horizontal element 103 is the second element as the rivet is passed from outer side of the pallet cage 100. The rivet 101 is inserted from the first element and is passed through the two sections of the vertical element 102 and partially in the second element which locks with only one section of the second element, more particularly with inner section of the second element as observed from the FIG. 2.

Instead of locking with the outer surface of the second element, the rivet is locked with the inner surface of the second element. Such locking of the rivet may further enable permanent locking of the horizontal and vertical elements (102 and 103) and further eliminate the protrusion of the rivet end from the outer side of the second element. Therefore, there is a no requirement of any hole or any drilling process at the outer surface, thereby saving time by skipping the excess machining.

Referring to FIG. 3, a method 300 of formation of pallet container cage 100 with riveted joint 101 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

At step 301, a suitable hollow tube is selected for the formation of horizontal and vertical tubes (103 and 102) wherein the hollow tubes are cut and bent according to the need of the cage dimensions. An optional process of drilling process may be initiated for three sections including two sections of each first element and an inner side of each second element, however such drilling process may also be performed after alignment of step 302.

At step 302, horizontal and vertical elements (103 and 102) are aligned around a fixture in the form of cage around the pallet container or the bulk containers.

At step 303, holes are drilled on intersection of horizontal & verticals in case where drilling process is not performed at step 301. Further, rivets are installed at each joining points of vertical and horizontal elements, wherein the joining points for riveting are preferably the joints present at the uppermost section 109 and the lower most section 110. The type of rivets is selected from either of a pull type rivet, blind rivet or a pop rivet which can be installed from one side. which are present at the intersection of vertical elements 102 and the horizontal elements 103 at the uppermost section 109 and the lower most section 110 whereas the mid-sections points of intersections and not being a joint present at the uppermost section 109 or the lowermost section 110 of the cage are joined by welded joints 108.

At step 304, the cage is placed on the pallet and the vertical and horizontal elements are (103 and 102) also connected to the pallet by any fastening means comprising nut and bolt assembly or riveting assembly. The rivets are installed by half through riveting process as explained in the description of FIG. 2.

At step 305, a complete cage is formed and sent for finishing process wherein finishing process can be either one of a painting, polishing, powder coating or any other procedure.

Although implementations for a pallet container cage with riveted joint have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it is to be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as examples of implementations for an outer cage for a pallet container enabled by a half through riveting method. 

1. A pallet container cage 100 enabled to protect and cover a container on a pallet, the pallet container cage 100 comprising: a plurality of elements joined at a plurality of intersections via a plurality of rivet joints 101 and welded joints 108, wherein the rivet joints 101 joins the elements such that the rivet joint 101 joins a first element, of the plurality of elements, and a second element, of the plurality of elements, at an intersection of the plurality of intersections, wherein the element through which the rivet 101 is first inserted is the first element, and wherein the rivet runs through the first element in entirety, and wherein the element through which the rivet 101 is partially inserted after the insertion through the first element is the second element which forms a rivet joint 101 with an engagement of three sections of the first and the second element, wherein the said three sections further comprises two sections of the first element and one section of the second element.
 2. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the joints at uppermost section 109 and lowermost section 110 are joined by rivets 101 and the joints present at intersections other than the uppermost section 109 and lowermost section 110 are either joined by rivets, welding or by fasteners.
 3. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the first element is one of the vertical elements 102 or the horizontal elements 103, and wherein the second element is one of the vertical elements 102 or the horizontal elements
 103. 4. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the vertical and horizontal hollow elements (102 and 103) comprises hollow metal tubes having which have holes at their intersections joints to accommodate the rivet 101 at each intersection.
 5. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 4, wherein the holes are formed by drilling process.
 6. The pallet container cage 100 of claim, wherein a pallet is enabled to secure and further carry the load of the container and the cage
 100. 7. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the shape of the cage 100 is same as the shape of the pallet container and comprise of a cuboidal, a cylindrical or a spherical shape.
 8. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the rivet 101 is either of a pull type rivet, blind rivet, or a pop rivet.
 9. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein each rivet 101 passes fully through the first element and partially protrudes inside the second vertical or horizontal hollow element.
 10. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein each engaged rivet 101 has two sections of the first hollow element and one section of the second hollow element between the heads of the rivet
 101. 11. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the two ends of the vertical hollow elements 102 are joined to the uppermost and lowermost horizontal elements
 103. 12. The pallet container cage 100 of claim 1, wherein the two ends of each horizontal hollow element 103 are joined with each other forming a closed loop.
 13. The pallet container cage of claim 1, wherein the joining of horizontal elements 103 and the vertical hollow elements 102 by the rivet 101 from first element and partially in the second element hides the rivet joint 101 and is not visible from outside which provide no machining on the outer side of the second element. 